


Two, Three, Four, What's One More?

by Give_Me_A_Karking_KitKat



Series: The Ghost AU [5]
Category: Murder Most Unladylike Series - Robin Stevens
Genre: Angst, Attempted Murder, Character Study, Gen, Loss of Sanity, Miss Griffin regrets one (1) murder and it's Verity's, Murder, Rationalisation, i guess, the nasty kind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:42:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23396461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Give_Me_A_Karking_KitKat/pseuds/Give_Me_A_Karking_KitKat
Summary: Miss Griffin has murdererd four people, and each time, she gets worse.
Series: The Ghost AU [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1677988
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	Two, Three, Four, What's One More?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [clickingkeyboards](https://archiveofourown.org/users/clickingkeyboards/gifts), [WritesEveryBlueMoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritesEveryBlueMoon/gifts).



It was never- it was never meant to end like **this.**

She'd just felt so _angry,_ her daughter had no right to reject her like that. She was _hers,_ not _their's._ Her daughter.

But she hadn't wanted that. She'd said as much and it had made her so _furious,_ she couldn't think _straight._

And it had been an accident. She swears it was an accident. She hadn't meant to push Verity over the balcony. It had just- happened.

One moment they were... discussing things (she knows it was an argument, but she doesn't really want to acknowledge that, doesn't want to think that the last words out of Verity's mouth were, "You're not my mother!"), and the next, she pushed her. And Verity had the misfortune to go over the balcony.

It was bad luck, really. It was.

It was just bad luck.

Now, Miss Griffin stumbles away from the balcony edge like a drunkard, hands clasped over her mouth to suffocate the horrified scream that nearly escapes, as she casts her eyes away from what she'd done to her daughter.

Her daughter, who is now crumpled like paper on the gym floor, bloody and broken. She hadn't meant for this to happen. Oh _god,_ what was she going to do?

She rushes down the stairs, and still her daughter lies, blood spilling out from under her head like a cruel halo, and she doesn't know what to do. She doesn't know, but she does know she doesn't want to _die_ for a moment of madness. She'd do _anything_ to cover this up.

That's how she finds herself faking her daughter's suicide.

⁂

Joan had been asking for it. She hadn't meant to do it, really, but Joan had been asking for it.

The blackmail, the threats, her whole life on the line over her moment of madness, and Joan had been there, taunting, taunting, when she thought she was free of it. She doesn't know how Joan kno- knew, but she needs to find out. Nobody can know.

Her hands are shaky with adrenaline, and she almost cannot bear to look at what she'd done to Joan, so much like what she'd done to Verity (but that had been an accident. A proper one, not like this time, when she saw her chance and took it. She'd do anything to cover what she did to Verity up. Even, it turns out, pushing her blackmailer over the very same balcony during an argument.)

She needs to cover this up, too.

As she peers over the balcony at the supprisingly neat body laid on the floor, she notices a little figure run up to it, and her blood _freezes_ like ice in her veins. There's a girl there. There's a witness. That cannot be. _God,_ she cannot let her live, whoever she is. Nobody can know.

The girl goes to shake Joan's shoulder (can't she tell she's _dead?_ ), and, when her head lolls to the side, puts her hand in the blood. She starts back, and, even though it is hard to see in the dark, Miss Griffin gets just enough of her features to know who she is. Afterall, there is only one chinese student at her school; Hazel Wong.

Oh, but Hazel is only thirteen. She is a small child, but she's seen. Miss Griffin, once again, finds herself at a loss of what to do.

First, though, she must cover up this first (second, a part of her whispers) murder.

She hides in the cupboard just to be sure, and though she hears no names, Hazel has an accent that is just strong enough to be noticeable. It's confirmation (Miss Griffin still doesn't know what to do with this information).

⁂

Hazel had seen. Hazel had seen and she couldn't leave a witness, she just _couldn't._

It would be purely idiotic, and Miss Griffin is not an idiot. She's not going to leave a loose end, even if they are a child. (And anyways, a part of her mind hisses, Verity was a child too, and you still pushed her off the balcony)

Miss Griffin doesn't want to do it, but really, her hands are tied.

So she calls the girl to her office. She doesn't know what she's going to do, but she's going to do _something._

Hazel is practically vibrating with nerves when she arrives, and Miss Griffin has a brief flicker of regret. But it's got to be done. No one can know.

She sees the loose tie, and the _how_ slots into place effortlessly.

The murder is a lot less effortless.

When it is over, she has scratch marks clawed into her hands, and a body that she needs to hide. She'd do anything to cover Verity's death up.

The body stays in her office for a bit too long, and her perfume doesn't quite cover the lingering stench.

Amelia is horrified when she realises what she's done (it's hardly hard to work out, really, because Hazel is not the kind of girl to run away, but everyone else seems to eat it up), and refuses to so much as look at her. The woman's hands shake like a house during an earthquake. (In the back of her mind, a voice whispers, you know she won't last. Just be rid of her.)

⁂

Amelia is going to spill. Miss Griffin just _knows_ it. That women is too weak to hide her sins, and she is clearly so very guilty about her part in the murders. Particularly her inaction with Hazel, which is rather bizarre, considering she was much more involved in hiding Joan's body, and barely had anything to do with dumping Hazel's in the forest.

She is too weak, and Miss Griffin will do anything to hide what she's done.

This should be the last time it's necessary, because she'll have all the time in the world afterwards to find out how Joan found out. There will be no more repeats. (Some part of her mind laughs at that, and Miss Griffin doesn't want to think into _why._ There will always be another "accident" it gloats, dark in the depths of her head)

Amelia is also the perfect scape goat, and she will tell, otherwise. It is the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, and make sure the truth never claws its way to the surface.

Her death is a lot more planned than the previous ones, because it has to be. Miss Griffin needs to tie off any and all loose ends, and this is such a convenient way to do it. It's got to be done in such a way that no one will know, as well, which is anything but easy.

This is how Miss Griffin finds herself faking her second suicide.

⁂

Daisy knew. Daisy _knew._ Not only Daisy, it seemed, but her entire _dorm,_ though Daisy was clearly the ringleader.

How was she going to dispose of that many rats?

And it wasn't only them, but Henrietta, as well. Not like she hadn't already suspected the girl thought she was guilty, but her paronoia has definitely been hightened, recently. God, why had she let her live after Verity? She should have known to kill the little pest, before she spread any of her ideas. It dawns on her, with the fear of someone watching a truck barrel towards them, that she sent _Henrietta_ to call for Hazel, which was a mistake.

God.

One thing at a time, though, and she knows where Daisy might be. That loose end cannot live, but she is running out of ways to realistically hide murders, and there are five people she needs to be rid of. (Two, three, four, what's one more? her mind cackles)

She gives the cloakroom a brief search, but she doesn't have _time_ to look through all these coats, and if she can't find Daisy, she surely will be able to find one of her friends. (On the other side of the house, Henrietta Trilling shudders, and harries the children under her protection faster. They need to _hide_ )

She spots Daisy dashing down the halls sometime later, and gives chase, but the damned inspector gets in her way.

At the end of his deductions, which leave her fuming and furious, a child's voice, with a chinese accent that is just strong enough to be noticeable, asks, "Was it worth it, Miss?"

This is how Miss Griffin's life falls apart.


End file.
